Awe, admiration and enchantment will best describe your feelings when you first set eyes on Argos, the oldest city of mainland Europe, with the hilltop Castle of Larissa dominating the skyline all around with its air of ancient and medieval mystery and getting you in the mood for myths and legends aplenty. It’s almost as if time got put on hold here and a bunch of sword-wielding warriors of old might appear over the horizon at any moment!

The German architect Ziller, as in many other cities of Greece, has left his mark here, theneoclassical old town hallof 1912 being one of his masterpieces. The architectural ambience of this period is completed by the Archaeological Museum housed in another neoclassical building of 1830 that was used as the Government’s Palace by IoannisKapodistrias. You can step much further back in time for an earlier architectural wonder, theAncientTheatre, carved out of the hillside to thrill no less than 20,000 ancient Greek drama enthusiasts. And right next door, you’ll unearth the Ancient Agora, with remnants of buildings from the Classical to the Roman era.

A trip up the road will take you toMycenae, where the impressive Lion Gate welcomes you to the dawning of the Mycenaean civilisation and the most splendid palace of the Late Bronze Age (1350 BC -1200 BC) in Greece. In Lerna, then, all you need do is close your eyes and you can be instantly transported back the realm of the Greek myths; it was right here, for example, that Hercules cut off the heads of theLernaean Hydra.

Complete your exploration with the Hellinikon Pyramid, which is the same age as the Egyptian Pyramids, a unique phenomenon and an archaeological riddle that remains unsolved to this day.